world

n. planet or globe; particular part of Earth; planet Earth; universe, cosmos; humankind; general public, public as a whole; material realm (as opposed to the spiritual realm); a lot, very much

adj. global, worldwide, universal, of the whole world

The World is a proper noun for the planet Earth envisioned from an anthropocentric or human worldview, as a place inhabited by human beings. It is often used to signify the sum of human experience and history, or the 'human condition' in general. There are approximately 6.6 billion (or 6600 million) people living on the Earth.
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World may refer to:Geography/cultureThe world; that is, the planet EarthAny planet deemed comparable to EarthWorld (adjective), for world-wide sociological phenomenaThe universeEastern worldNorthern worldSouthern worldWestern worldAmerican worldArctic worldEurasian worldAfrican worldAsian worldCentral American world European worldLatin American worldNorth American worldPacific WorldSouth American worldArab worldSub-Saharan worldChinese world (Sinosphere)Indian world (Indian subcontinent, Indosphere)Russian worldThe World (archipelago), a group of artificial islands near Dubai
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(n.)
The inhabitants of the earth; the human race; people in general; the public; mankind.
  

(n.)
The earth and the surrounding heavens; the creation; the system of created things; existent creation; the universe.
  

(n.)
The earth and its inhabitants, with their concerns; the sum of human affairs and interests.
  

(n.)
The earth and its affairs as distinguished from heaven; concerns of this life as distinguished from those of the life to come; the present existence and its interests; hence, secular affairs; engrossment or absorption in the affairs of this life; worldly corruption; the ungodly or wicked part of mankind.
  

(n.)
The customs, practices, and interests of men; general affairs of life; human society; public affairs and occupations; as, a knowledge of the world.
  

(n.)
Individual experience of, or concern with, life; course of life; sum of the affairs which affect the individual; as, to begin the world with no property; to lose all, and begin the world anew.
  

(n.)
In a more restricted sense, that part of the earth and its concerns which is known to any one, or contemplated by any one; a division of the globe, or of its inhabitants; human affairs as seen from a certain position, or from a given point of view; also, state of existence; scene of life and action; as, the Old World; the New World; the religious world; the Catholic world; the upper world; the future world; the heathen world.
  

(n.)
As an emblem of immensity, a great multitude or quantity; a large number.
  

(n.)
Any planet or heavenly body, especially when considered as inhabited, and as the scene of interests analogous with human interests; as, a plurality of worlds.
  

Background Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). Map of World More about World: Geography People Government Economy Communications Transportation Military Transnational Issues

World Frequently used to signify various facts of nature: a cosmic plane or subplane, a cosmic sphere, or less accurately an entire cosmic hierarchy. Hence it is common to speak of superior and inferior worlds, or worlds of spirit and of matter, which are not separated from each other; for the worlds of spirit or the superior worlds are the origins of the lower or inferior worlds, as these latter are in the course of cosmic emanation unfolded from cosmic space.
A division is generally made between the superior (arupa or formless) worlds and the inferior (rupa or form) worlds, the latter situated on the four lower planes of the septenary hierarchy. These are also referred to as the noumenal and phenomenal, unmanifested and manifested, "the worlds of Idea and the worlds of Matter. 'As above, so below,' states the Hermetic philosophy. This lower world is formed on its prototype -- the higher world; and 'everything in the lower is but an image (a reflection) of the higher.' (Zohar, ii, fol. 20 A.)" (TG 372).